Synopsis — courtesy of Opera News: In a feud between the Scottish families of Ravenswood and Lammermoor, Enrico (Lord Henry Ashton of Lammermoor) has gained the upper hand over Edgardo (Edgar of Ravenswood), killing his kinsmen and taking over his estates. By the time of the opera’s action, however, Enrico’s fortunes have begun to wane. In political disfavor, he stakes all on uniting his family with that of Arturo (Lord Arthur Bucklaw), whom he means to force his sister, Lucia (Lucy Ashton), to marry.

ACT I. In a ruined park near Lammermoor Castle, Enrico’s retainers prepare to search for a mysterious trespasser. Normanno, captain of the guard, remains behind to greet Enrico, who decries Lucia’s refusal to marry Arturo. When the girl’s elderly tutor, Raimondo, suggests that grief over her mother’s death keeps her from thoughts of love, Normanno reveals that Lucia has been discovered keeping trysts with a hunter who saved her from a raging bull. He suspects the stranger is none other than Edgardo. Enrico rages, and as retainers confirm Normanno’s suspicions, he swears vengeance.

At a fountain near her mother’s tomb, Lucia, fearful of her brother, awaits a rendezvous with Edgardo. She tells her confidante, Alisa, the tale of a maiden’s ghost that haunts the fountain and has warned her of a tragic end to her love for Edgardo. Though Alisa implores her to take care, Lucia cannot restrain her love. On arrival, Edgardo explains he must go to France on a political mission but wishes to reconcile himself with Enrico so he and Lucia may marry. Lucia, knowing her brother will not relent, begs Edgardo to keep their love a secret. Though infuriated at Enrico’s persecution, he agrees. The lovers seal their vows by exchanging rings, then bid each other farewell.

ACT II. In an anteroom of Lammermoor Castle, Enrico plots with Normanno to force Lucia to marry Arturo. As the captain goes off to greet the bridegroom, Lucia enters, distraught but defiant, only to be shown a forged letter, supposedly from Edgardo, proving him pledged to another. Crushed, she longs for death, but Enrico insists on her marrying at once to save the family fortunes. Now Raimondo urges her to consent to the wedding, invoking the memory of her mother and asking her to respect the family’s desperate situation. When she yields, he reminds her there are heavenly rewards for earthly sacrifices.

In the great hall of Lammermoor, as guests hail the union of two important families, Arturo pledges to restore the Ashtons’ prestige. Enrico prepares him for Lucia’s melancholy by pleading her grief over her mother’s death. No sooner has the girl entered and been forced to sign the marriage contract than Edgardo bursts in. Returning earlier than expected, he has learned of the wedding and come to claim his bride. Bloodshed is averted only when Raimondo commands the rivals to put up their swords. Seeing Lucia’s signature on the contract, Edgardo tears his ring from her finger, curses her and rushes from the hall. Hardly comprehending his words, Lucia collapses.

ACT III. Edgardo sits in a chamber at the foot of Wolf’s Crag tower, deep in thought, as a storm rages. Enrico rides there to confront him, and the flames of their enmity flare. They agree to meet at dawn among the tombs of the Ravenswoods to fight a duel.

The continuing wedding festivities are halted when Raimondo enters to announce that Lucia, gone mad, has stabbed and killed Arturo in the bridal chamber. Disheveled, unaware of what she has done, she wanders in, recalling her meetings with Edgardo and imagining herself married to him. When the angry Enrico rushes in, he is silenced by the sight of her pitiful condition. Believing herself in heaven, Lucia falls dying.

Among the tombs of his ancestors, Edgardo, last of the Ravenswoods, laments Lucia’s supposed betrayal and awaits his duel with Enrico, which he hopes will end his own life. Guests leaving Lammermoor Castle tell Edgardo the dying Lucia has called his name. As he is about to rush to her side, Raimondo arrives to tell of her death, and her bier is carried by. Resolving to join Lucia in heaven, Edgardo stabs himself and dies.

Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott’s historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor.

Donizetti wrote Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835, a time when several factors led to the height of his reputation as a composer of opera. Gioachino Rossini had recently retired and Vincenzo Bellini had died shortly before the premier of Lucia leaving Donizetti as “the sole reigning genius of Italian opera”. Not only were conditions ripe for Donizetti’s success as a composer, but there was also a European interest in the history and culture of Scotland. The perceived romance of its violent wars and feuds, as well as its folklore and mythology, intrigued 19th century readers and audiences. Sir Walter Scott made use of these stereotypes in his novel The Bride of Lammermoor, which inspired several musical works including Lucia.

The story concerns the emotionally fragile Lucy Ashton (Lucia) who is caught in a feud between her own family and that of the Ravenswoods. The setting is the Lammermuir Hills of Scotland (Lammermoor) in the 17th century.

ACT I. Cesare Angelotti (Diego Baner), an escaped political prisoner, rushes into the church of Sant’ Andrea della Valle to hide in the Attavanti chapel. As he vanishes, an old Sacristan (Jorge Arcila) shuffles in, praying at the sound of the Angelus. Mario Cavaradossi (Enrique Pina) enters to work on his portrait of Mary Magdalene – inspired by the Marchesa Attavanti (Angelotti’s sister), whom he has seen but does not know. Taking out a miniature of the singer Floria Tosca (Jennifer Harris), he compares her raven beauty with that of the blonde Magdalene (“Recondita armonia”). The Sacristan (Jorge Arcila) grumbles disapproval and leaves. Angelotti (Diego Baner) ventures out and is recognized by his friend and fellow liberal Mario (Enrique Pina), who gives him food and hurries him back into the chapel as Tosca (Jennifer Harris) is heard calling outside. Forever suspicious, she jealously questions him, then prays, and reminds him of their rendezvous that evening at his villa (“Non la sospiri la nostra casetta?”). Suddenly recognizing the Marchesa Attavanti in the painting, she explodes with renewed suspicions, but he reassures her (“Qual’ occhio al mondo”). When she has gone, Mario summons Angelotti (Diego Baner) from the chapel; a cannon signals that the police have discovered the escape, so the two flee to Mario’s villa. Meanwhile, the Sacristan (Jorge Arcila) returns with choirboys who are to sing in a Te Deum that day. Their excitement is silenced by the entrance of Baron Scarpia (Nelson Martinez), chief of the secret police, in search of Angelotti (Diego Baner). When Tosca (Jennifer Harris) comes back to her lover, Scarpia (Nelson Martinez) shows her a fan with the Attavanti crest, which he has just found. Thinking Mario (Enrique Pina) faithless, Tosca (Jennifer Harris) tearfully vows vengeance and leaves as the church fills with worshipers. Scarpia (Nelson Martinez), sending his men to follow her to Angelotti, schemes to get the diva in his power (“Va, Tosca!”).

ACT II. In the Farnese Palace, Scarpia (Nelson Martinez) anticipates the sadistic pleasure of bending Tosca (Jennifer Harris) to his will (“Ha più forte sapore”). The spy Spoletta (Jared Peroune) arrives, not having found Angelotti; to placate the baron he brings in Mario (Enrique Pina), who is interrogated while Tosca (Jennifer Harris) is heard singing a cantata at a royal gala downstairs. She enters just as her lover is being taken to an adjoining room: his arrogant silence is to be broken under torture. Unnerved by Scarpia’s (Nelson Martinez) questioning and the sound of Mario’s (Enrique Pina) screams, she reveals Angelotti’s (Diego Baner) hiding place. Mario (Enrique Pina) is carried in; realizing what has happened, he turns on Tosca (Jennifer Harris), but the officer Sciarrone (Ismael Gonzalez) rushes in to announce that Napoleon has won the Battle of Marengo, a defeat for Scarpia’s side. Mario shouts his defiance of tyranny (“Vittoria!”) and is dragged to prison. Scarpia, resuming his supper, suggests that Tosca yield herself to him in exchange for her lover’s life. Fighting off his embraces, she protests her fate to God, having dedicated her life to art and love (“Vissi d’arte”). Scarpia again insists, but Spoletta interrupts: faced with capture, Angelotti has killed himself. Tosca, forced to give in or lose her lover, agrees to Scarpia’s proposition. The baron pretends to order a mock execution for the prisoner, after which he is to be freed; Spoletta leaves. No sooner has Scarpia written a safe-conduct for the lovers than Tosca snatches a knife from the table and kills him. Wrenching the document from his stiffening fingers and placing candles at his head and a crucifix on his chest, she slips from the room.

ACT III. The voice of a shepherd boy is heard as church bells toll the dawn. Mario awaits execution at the Castel Sant’Angelo; he bribes the jailer to convey a farewell note to Tosca. Writing it, overcome with memories of love, he gives way to despair (“E lucevan le stelle”). Suddenly Tosca runs in, filled with the story of her recent adventures. Mario caresses the hands that committed murder for his sake (“O dolci mani”), and the two hail their future. As the firing squad appears, the diva coaches Mario on how to fake his death convincingly; the soldiers fire and depart. Tosca urges Mario to hurry, but when he fails to move, she discovers that Scarpia’s treachery has transcended the grave: the bullets were real. When Spoletta rushes in to arrest Tosca for Scarpia’s murder, she cries to Scarpia to meet her before God, then leaps to her death.

ACT I. Cesare Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner, rushes into the church of Sant’ Andrea della Valle to hide in the Attavanti chapel. As he vanishes, an old Sacristan shuffles in, praying at the sound of the Angelus. Mario Cavaradossi enters to work on his portrait of Mary Magdalene – inspired by the Marchesa Attavanti (Angelotti’s sister), whom he has seen but does not know. Taking out a miniature of the singer Floria Tosca, he compares her raven beauty with that of the blonde Magdalene (“Recondita armonia”). The Sacristan grumbles disapproval and leaves. Angelotti ventures out and is recognized by his friend and fellow liberal Mario, who gives him food and hurries him back into the chapel as Tosca is heard calling outside. Forever suspicious, she jealously questions him, then prays, and reminds him of their rendezvous that evening at his villa (“Non la sospiri la nostra casetta?”). Suddenly recognizing the Marchesa Attavanti in the painting, she explodes with renewed suspicions, but he reassures her (“Qual’ occhio al mondo”). When she has gone, Mario summons Angelotti from the chapel; a cannon signals that the police have discovered the escape, so the two flee to Mario’s villa. Meanwhile, the Sacristan returns with choirboys who are to sing in a Te Deum that day. Their excitement is silenced by the entrance of Baron Scarpia, chief of the secret police, in search of Angelotti. When Tosca comes back to her lover, Scarpia shows her a fan with the Attavanti crest, which he has just found. Thinking Mario faithless, Tosca tearfully vows vengeance and leaves as the church fills with worshipers. Scarpia, sending his men to follow her to Angelotti, schemes to get the diva in his power (“Va, Tosca!”).

ACT II. In the Farnese Palace, Scarpia anticipates the sadistic pleasure of bending Tosca to his will (“Ha più forte sapore”). The spy Spoletta arrives, not having found Angelotti; to placate the baron he brings in Mario, who is interrogated while Tosca is heard singing a cantata at a royal gala downstairs. She enters just as her lover is being taken to an adjoining room: his arrogant silence is to be broken under torture. Unnerved by Scarpia’s questioning and the sound of Mario’s screams, she reveals Angelotti’s hiding place. Mario is carried in; realizing what has happened, he turns on Tosca, but the officer Sciarrone rushes in to announce that Napoleon has won the Battle of Marengo, a defeat for Scarpia’s side. Mario shouts his defiance of tyranny (“Vittoria!”) and is dragged to prison. Scarpia, resuming his supper, suggests that Tosca yield herself to him in exchange for her lover’s life. Fighting off his embraces, she protests her fate to God, having dedicated her life to art and love (“Vissi d’arte”). Scarpia again insists, but Spoletta interrupts: faced with capture, Angelotti has killed himself. Tosca, forced to give in or lose her lover, agrees to Scarpia’s proposition. The baron pretends to order a mock execution for the prisoner, after which he is to be freed; Spoletta leaves. No sooner has Scarpia written a safe-conduct for the lovers than Tosca snatches a knife from the table and kills him. Wrenching the document from his stiffening fingers and placing candles at his head and a crucifix on his chest, she slips from the room.

ACT III. The voice of a shepherd boy is heard as church bells toll the dawn. Mario awaits execution at the Castel Sant’Angelo; he bribes the jailer to convey a farewell note to Tosca. Writing it, overcome with memories of love, he gives way to despair (“E lucevan le stelle”). Suddenly Tosca runs in, filled with the story of her recent adventures. Mario caresses the hands that committed murder for his sake (“O dolci mani”), and the two hail their future. As the firing squad appears, the diva coaches Mario on how to fake his death convincingly; the soldiers fire and depart. Tosca urges Mario to hurry, but when he fails to move, she discovers that Scarpia’s treachery has transcended the grave: the bullets were real. When Spoletta rushes in to arrest Tosca for Scarpia’s murder, she cries to Scarpia to meet her before God, then leaps to her death.

Miami Lyric Opera is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to historic accuracy in set and music. Sponsors are welcome for the 2012 season which opens with Tosca in March. Sponsorship of the English translation screen is available. Added this year, the subtitles were popular with the audience, helping them follow the story line.

Miami Lyric Opera is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to historic accuracy in set and music. Sponsors are welcome for the 2012 season which opens with Tosca in March. Sponsorship of the English translation screen is available. Added this year, the subtitles were popular with the audience, helping them follow the story line.